Emily Zoladz | The Grand Rapids PressSarah Grant and Stephen Fry stand on the Blue Bridge beneath their 15-ton table and chairs.GRAND RAPIDS — ArtPrize is over, but what happens to the art?

Ran Ortner’s $250,000 prize-winning piece is temporarily going to the Grand Rapids Art Museum. “Open Water no. 24” will go on display Tuesday and remain there through January.

“We’re pleased to have the opportunity to exhibit the painting and be part of continuing the conversation started by ArtPrize,” museum Director Celeste Adams said.

Ortner said he would like viewers to be able to see his piece away from John Douglas Powers’ sculpture “Field of Reeds,” which occupied the ideal spot to view the painting that is nearly 6 feet tall and 19 feet wide.

“The sculpture was beautiful,” he said. “But I’m very pleased at the prospect of it hanging on its own.”

It’s unclear where the oil painting will be seen next. Ortner said he learned Friday morning by voice mail it was sold to an unnamed buyer.

“I was told congratulations,” Ortner said Saturday.

The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based artist would not disclose the sale price. He said he does not know who bought it.

“I inquired, and I wasn’t told,” he said.

Days before ArtPrize’s winner’s announcement Thursday, Ortner said he was told by staff at Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, curators of the display in the Old Federal Building, that offers were made on the painting.

According to ArtPrize’s eligibility rules, artists were free to sell their pieces, so long as they remained in place until the close of the exhibition on Saturday.

“From the beginning, we wanted artists to be able to sell things, but we’re not involved in that. We’re not even tracking it,” said Kevin Buist, ArtPrize director of artist relations.

As for the remaining 1,261 entries displayed across a 3-square mile district of downtown Grand Rapids, most are expected to be removed beginning today, following the 21/2-week competition.

Traverse City artist Eric Daigh, whose pushpin “Portraits” placed third, said having to take the works out of Grand Rapids almost seems like “robbery.”

“To have these works leave ... will be a disaster of sorts,” Daigh said. “When you grow to love something, it hurts when it goes away.”

Fortunately for the visitors who made ArtPrize successful, many pieces will stay in Grand Rapids, said Jose Reyna, assistant to the city manager.

Two murals — Tracy Van Duinen’s second-place mosaic “Imagine That!” at the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum and Daan Hoekstra’s “Humanity at the Crossroads,” commissioned by the Grand Rapids Community Foundation — have been approved by the city to remain in place, Reyna said.

Other murals, such as those at The B.O.B. and along South Division Avenue, still must be approved as not being signage or in violation of the zoning ordinance.

Rhonda Baker, the city’s historic preservation specialist, approved three murals in the Heartside Historic District. She said the artists were the only ones who asked to be retained.

Baker said Dwelling Place, which owns both buildings, sought only a year because “they’re anticipating offering up those sites for venues for next ArtPrize. They’re going to have to paint over them.”

A mural on the West Side, however, has run afoul of zoning rules, city planners said. “TrompeI-Oeil” (601 Third St. NW), is in violation, for example, because the fence on which it is painted is too high.

Neighbors said they want to keep the work by Belmont artist Tammy Lynch, commissioned by Bob Israels, but city Planning Director Suzanne Schulz said it had to come down.

Reyna said one thing the city does not want is for murals to be power-washed away.

“It would probably create more destruction to the building,” he said. “We appreciate all of what (ArtPrize and artists) have done, so we’ll be cooperative with them.”

The city will not buy any art, Reyna said, but may allow donated work to stay on city property as long as funding for maintenance is in place.

That includes two bronze plaques by Los Angeles artist Eames Demetrios — “Stones” at Canal Street Park and “Forest” at Fish Ladder Park.

Grand Rapids photographer David Lubbers said many people, including Reyna and Mayor George Heartwell, have expressed interest in keeping his “Grand Dance” — the fourth-place entry — on the Grand River. On Saturday night, the wind-damaged work had been removed.

He and collaborators Linda and Steve Williams of Williams & Works are designing a more rigid and aesthetically pleasing base for permanent installation on the rock piling known as “The Tooth.”

Also hoping to keep its home on the river is the Art Deco “Nessie on the Grand,” the sixth-place finisher.

Two local organizations have expressed interest in “adopting” Nessie, said one of its creators, Richard App, but the team prefers the water. App said a protective base could be added to make it river-worthy.

“But it’s all conjecture until somebody steps forward,” App said. “We’re all Grand Rapids guys. We all went to Kendall. And we built it specifically for its current location.”

Grand Rapids architect Stephen Fry and Des Moines artist Sarah Grant both said they hope their eighth-place entry, “The Furniture City Sets the Table for the World of Art,” becomes a fixture somewhere in the city. A couple of local institutions have expressed interest in displaying the 15-ton sculpture placed atop the Blue Bridge for ArtPrize.

“I think it should end up in some park or facility in Kent County,” Fry said.

For others, the matter of keeping art around town rests on the owners of 2009 ArtPrize venues.

Jane Lovett, owner of Peaches Bed and Breakfast, has put in an offer on “Edgar” — a large metal dragon guarding the venue’s front lawn.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I really, really, really want him to stay. He should definitely stay here. He liked it here.”

Cost could be a concern, however. The boiler just went out in a property she owns across the street from Peaches.

Said Lovett: “I think there are laws against buying a dragon over a boiler for your tenant, but we’re going to try and do both.”

Top 10 artists were virtually unanimous in hoping their works would stay on public view in Grand Rapids. They also (expenses aside) said little about money — but wouldn’t mind a sale. Here are their wishes in order of finish:

1. Ran Ortner, ‘Open Water No. 24’
2D, oil on canvas, 228 inches wide, 70 inches high
“(Art pieces) kind of have their own life. They make their own way. There’s so many people who have connected with it. It’s so wonderful.”

3. Eric Daigh, ‘Portraits’
2D/3D, pushpins on board, each 48 inches wide, 72 inches high
“That they land someplace public where they can be enjoyed and seen by as many people as possible. If there’s some mechanism to which my works could stay here and live in Grand Rapids, then that would be wonderful.”

4. David Lubbers, ‘Grand Dance’
3D, metal, 40 feet wide, 30 feet tall
“More important to us than winning this ArtPrize thing is having a wonderful, grander thing that stays there.”

6. Nessie Project, ‘Nessie on the Grand’
3D, Styrofoam and other materials, 16 feet high, 60 feet long
The Nessie team hopes its piece stays in the Grand River, ultimately, but any public space in Grand Rapids would be good. “It’s too big for my backyard,” co-creator Richard App joked.

7. John Douglas Powers, ‘Field of Reeds’
3D, wood, steel, plastic and electric motor, 14 feet wide, 4.5 feet high
“I would like access to exist with the piece where a lot of people can see it. I would love for it to stay.”

9. Jason Hackenwerth, ‘Ecstasy of The Scarlet Empress’
3D, latex balloons, recorded in photos and on video
“What we’ll leave behind is the process of creating her and the large photographs to remember her as we would our grandmother. ... But I will leave (‘Scarlet Empress’) here for the UICA to display until they feel they should bring her down.”

10. Michael Westra, ‘Winddancer 2’
3D, welded steel, 3 feet wide, 10 feet high
“I just think my daughter would get such a kick out of this one being the one to go in her front yard (in Spring Lake).”